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House Polophylax
House Polophylax is a minor Aristocratic House of the Nova Anglian Empire lead by religious zealots. Headed by Lord Mercantys Polophylax, the noble house has embraced the notion that only royal blood is fit to rule the cosmos has lead to them embarking on countless holy wars of aggression against rival dominions that dare challenge the power of the Nova Anglian Empire. History Foundation House Polophylax was, according to scholars loyal to the noble house, founded by the descendants of an Onyl Cylinder that had been set to travel to a near-habitable world that had been christened Demithca, eons before the Arks had been constructed. By the time the colonists reached their new home, the Kingdom of Anglia was in its infancy and had never managed to travel to the area of space that would become known as the Saeletan System. From this single system, a royal dynasty was forged as members from a family known as Polophylax had apparently come to settle over one hundred habitable worlds and conquer many more that belonged to a mysterious empire. Thus, with a large number of holdings and followers of the explorers that charted the newly formed Saletan Sector, the first king of the region was crowned, Byzathor Polophylax. Years of Blood According to Imperial Historians, there was a long period of time in House Polophylax history where they resisted the rightful rule of the Kingdom of Anglia. Billions of lives were lost on each side, but the arrogant Regents of Polophylax would not bend the knee and swear fealty to their rightful masters. It only came to an end when Katirys Serpentarius (the bastard daughter of the former Polophyax King) swore fealty to the King Andromeda after bringing the head of her half-brother (and apparent inheritor to the Polophylaxan Dynasty) to the King's feet. Kartirys Serpentarius was legitimised by the King of Anglia to be Lady Katirys Polophylax of the Saeletan Sector. Two official families were formed after the house was absorbed into the Anglian Nobility, Polophylax as the hereditary rulers of the sector and Serpentarius, the siblings and descendants of the woman who brought the small faction into the imperial throng. Summation Phase At the dawn of detailed, verified, recorded history House Polophylax was listed as one of over ten thousand aristocratic clans. In 4510 AI, it is noted that Janyta Polophylax Serpentarius was wed to King George Andrew Cassius Andromeda Albion as his third wife. Betrayal Tournament of Titles Notable Members Mercantys Polophylax Lord of the Saeletan Sector. Canytus Polophylax Lady of the Saeletan Sector. Nivays Polophylax Reputation While currently headed by apparent zealots, House Polophylax is notorious amongst the Empire for formerly disregarding the rest of Nova Anglia. Historically they have had several issues with royals who were not in some way related to themselves, thus leading several women from House Polophylax ending up as wives and mistresses to the throne. There have even been grabs by House Polophylax to secure multiple princesses over the millenia for the sole purpose of increasing the apparent purity of their royal blood. This attitude towards the crown has lead to several issues arising in the past, such as failures to provide military support to the Nova Anglian Empire, extreme lapses on providing tithes and blatantly ignoring Imperial decrees. Even under their apparently religious extremist leader (which many believe to be suspicious at best), House Polophylax seems unphased by the rest of the Empire and maintains the tendency of doing things that are merely beneficial to themselves. Over the centuries a common misconception has formed that the motto of the noble house is We could not care less. This perception of House Polophylax having little concern for Imperial rule is heightened further by their insistence on enforcing the Demithca Proclamation within their Sector while following the bits of the Royal Constitution that the first Imperial Lady of the House deemed to be "worth looking in to" while plaintively disregarding anything that seemed to "threaten the status quo of the Kingdom of Saeletia". While it is well known that many prominent nobles have wished to see House Polophylax liquidated due to such apparent heresies, House Polophylax has a gargantuan fleet of archaic dreadnoughts and advanced weapons that is typically only found in the hands of royalty. The house has recently (c.7528, implying "recent" spans for entire decades at once) been placed on the Imperial Internal Purge List for treasonous activity, however there exists many conflicts against this, all of which have so far withered all attention towards this "minor concern" down to practically nothing. The major objections to this proscription include: Their situation's minimal criticality on terms of the Empire as a whole, the Sector's proximity to Orion Space and its on-par supply of conscripts, their highly religious attitudes and ways of governance, the installation of a royal princess into their household and, finally, (whilst not officially published) the unfathomably cumbersome administration of the Nova Anglian Empire itself most definitely weighing it down. Dominion House Polophylax governs what was formerly the Kingdom of Saeletia, a soverign state that was located between the fledgeling Empire of Anglia and the warring factions located in what is now the Ecclesiarchal Dominion of Empyrion. Due to their "agreeable ethnic makeup", as Imperial historians have stated, the Nova Anglian Empire took great interest in absorbing this Kingdom in to their fold. While an ancient war raged between the Saeletans and Nova Anglians in the past, they have firmly been an established part of the Empire for between 4000 and 7000 years. The holdings of House Polophylax covers approximately five hundred planets. Attempts had been made by the Nova Anglian Empire to divide this territory in to further sectors, but a lack of navigational expertise within the area and the countless mysterious deaths that pioneers suffered within these attempted splinter sectors lead to the Nova Anglian Empire abandoning its attempts of administrating the Saeletan Sector. Military House Polophylax became infamous for fielding more advanced weaponry and spacecraft than the Nova Anglian Empire could throw at them. It is generally believed, by Saeletan historians, that the Years of Blood would have lasted into the present, had Katirys Polophylax not slain her half-brother in order to reclaim the lost honour of her family, due to the superior war machines that the forces of the Kingdom of Saeletia possessed. The most notorious of these weapons was the Demithcan-Class Dreadnought. As the ancient people of Demithca set of in to the stars for the first time since their ancestors had landed on their harsh new homeworld, they saw a need to arm themselves against what ever dangers they may face. Warships were constructed using plans detailed in manuscripts of old and so they set off to explore the cosmos with their claws bared. Over time they encountered deadlier foes and refined their weapons of war so that they could subjugate entire worlds with their advanced weapons of war. The Years of Blood that followed provided the ideal grindstone to hone their claws further, as they produced warships with lethal efficiency. While the Nova Anglian Empire presented enormous behemoths, the Polophylaxan Dynasty designed ships with a single purposes. To crack the monstrous Anglian constructs with but a single strike. Speed and maneuverability was favoured over resilience, while more weapons were added each time. The Demithcan-Class Dreadnought would be the final fruit of these labours. After close on four thousand years of bloodshed, the dreadnoughts seemed to hold the answer to breaking Nova Anglia. Unfortunately, their "surefire" method of eradicating Imperial forces was reliant on forcing a star to prematurely ignite into a supernova using arcane technology that was non-existent in the Nova Anglian Empire. As the war turned to further desperation, it started to be deployed on Polophylaxan Systems that the Imperials had invaded. This violated the very laws of the Demitcha Proclamation, as it caused the deaths of Saeletans by other Saeletans. Many argued that no blood was spilled, so it followed the letter of the law even if it did not follow the spirit. The war seemed set to spiral into a vicious cycle of self-destruction and mass slaughter of non-combatants on both sides. Until one day King Polophylax lost his head to his half-sister and the latter made peace with Anglia. While these ancient apocalyptic warships have fallen into myth and legend, Anglia remains wary to the fact that these beasts may still lurk in the depths of the Saeletan Sector, as the odd tale reaches the ears of many nobles of stars burning brightly in the Dominion while entire systems are reduced to ash. The modern day Polopyhlaxan Fleet makes use of Nova Anglian dreadnought classes that have been equipped with powerful light cannons. They tend to shun other vessels as they have historically always maintained a flotila designed for striking hard and fast. Category:Nova Anglia Category:Anglian Aristocratic House